The Success Train: Lesson 1
A study of The Law Of Success by Napoleon Hill
Section of focus. The personal statement by the author.
Very Important
- Note that this is not the traditional type of motivational post.
- Be ready to make life-changing decisions as you put into practice everything you learn here.
- Always keep your pen and paper by your side as you study this course.
In this section, the author discussed a clergy who once announced in a Chicago Newspaper that he would preach a sermon the following morning titled:
"WHAT I WOULD DO IF I HAD A MILLION DOLLARS"
In his sermon, Dr. Gunsaulus pictured a great school of technology where young men and women could be thought how to succeed in life by developing the ability to Think in practical rather than in theoretical terms; where they would be taught to "learn by doing." "If I had a million dollars," said the young preacher, "I would start a school."
After the sermon was over, Philip D. Armour got convinced and said;
"Young man, I believe you could do all you said you could, and if you will come down to my office tomorrow morning I will give you the million dollars you need."
And that was the beginning of the Armour Institute of Technology.
From the above statement, you will notice that there is a difference between thinking in practical term and thinking in theoretical term. A lot of people, especially perfectionist get so tied to theoretical kind of thinking that they end up achieving nothing or very little in life.
A practical type of thinking is one in which you have definite practical steps to make your thoughts a reality and you start working on them immediately even before you have concluded all your plans.
You would also discover that Imagination is the birthplace of everything the hand of man created.
That school was built in the young man's mind even before he talked about it.
Every great railroad, every outstanding financial institution, every mammoth business enterprise and every great invention began in the imagination of some one person.
More than capital, what you need is an active imagination. For every practical thinking person, there are always resources to accomplish his mission.
Imagination is a faculty of the mind which can be cultivated, developed, extended and broadened by use.
Fortunate is the young man or woman who learns early in life, to use imagination.
Wherever you find yourself, let your imagination make you stand out. Here on Steemit, think about what you can do to make yourself more important.
Yeah, even in the midst of misfortune, if you use your imagination positively you will discover the gold beneath.
However, it is important to note that we need other people if we want to succeed.
Success in this world is always a matter of individual effort, yet you will only be deceiving yourself if you believe that you can succeed without the co-operation of other people.
Achieving success is a matter of skillfully and tactfully inducing others to cooperate.
Summary of this lesson
Think practically.
Use your imagination to create things that will make you more useful anywhere you find yourself.
Understand that Success requires the co-operation of others.
Practical Exercises
Write down these questions and answers them sincerely.
What occupies your imagination?
This will help you notice what occupies your mind and save you from focusing your mental energy on the wrong stuff.
How have you practically started what you have been thinking about?
This will help you know if you belong to the practical or theoretical class of thinkers.
What can you create in your mind that you can achieve?
This will help you not to be a wishful thinker, but some intelligent fellow who would create things in his imagination and find ways to actualize it.
If you had a million dollars, what would you do with it?
This will drive you towards realizing what your definite purpose is (that is if you do not have one yet) and creating practical steps to achieving it.
What is that thing you want to do and you think acquiring capital for it has been a major setback?
Think deep and you'll know capital is not your major problem, but the inability to use your imagination extensively.
Everything you use today, someone created it. Don't just enjoy other people's usefulness to the world. Be useful to this generation and beyond.
Your assignment
What is that thing that will make you useful to the world?
Think deep. Meditate. Make sure you come to a conclusion today. Write it down. As the course progresses, you may change it because your mind will begin to discover new things you never imagined before. Don't worry about that, the important thing is that your mind is being developed all along.
How are you going to start what you just imagined?
Did you think out a way to start? Then proceed to work immediately.
Write this down and meditate on it daily
"I must be valuable to this world."
Final Note
Discovery is a matter of investigation and use of imagination.
What you are looking for all these while could be found here on the Steem platform, in your neighbourhood or your present occupation. Just Think, Think harder and Think creatively.
What did you learn from today's lesson?
What will you do with what you learnt today?
What happened to you as you read today's lesson?
You can share the answer to the first question here, but the second and third questions need you to meditate on them and write down your answers.
Did you notice anything?
This course has one major objective which is, to work on your Mind and help you see the gold in it that you never knew existed before.
Reference
The Law of success written by Napoleon Hill
All quotes are from The Law of Success by Napoleon Hill
You can read the intro of this course here.
Thank you for reading
PS:) I'm so sorry I couldn't start from Monday as earlier scheduled. It was due to health issues.
I remain that humble and lovely @ogoowinner
@elyaque made this beautiful badge for me
Thank you for this helpful nugget. I will sure to follow every series
Thank you for reading.
You're welcome ma'am
Yes this is inspiring i learnt that we have to stand out to make our effort count and we succeed with the help of others. We can't do it alone
That is good. Put into practice what you have learnt. Thank you for reading.
Reading through this post reminds me of something I came across recently in a book titled 'The Millionaire Next Door'.
Been successful starts with our outlook towards life, it is not until we accumulate millions before we show the true attributes of success...
Thanks for sharing
Thank you for your comment here. I will look for that book as well.
I just took screenshots of the practical questions and assignments.. I am going to do this and then let you know of the progress.
Thank you for this expose 🙌
I hope the objective of the course is attained. thank you for reading.
It sure will.. I am happy I did.. Thank you more for sharing
From today's lesson I learnt a hidden message. Once you are able to convince a thing in your mind, ways to achieve them begin to open up to you. What occupies our imagination takes over our minds and whatsoever we ponder upon in our mind regularly is what we eventually become.
Good! Thank you for reading.
Thanks for sharing
Your writing to be success in our life is very helpful for us. We should follow this rules to be a succeeded man in our life.We need Practical exercise with completion our lessons. Thank for your informative post with us.
Thank you for reading.
Welcome and thank also to you for good response
Thanks for sharing this piece of motivation. You have a way of lifting souls wuth your motivational works, pls don't stop doing this as people look up to it constantly. Am a huge fan of motivational pieces as theyve helped me build nyself overtime. Thanks for lifting spirits. @gloxypearl, a fan....
I am glad I am useful. Thank you for your comment here. I could pull through from so many setbacks because I surrounded myself with great books.
This is where a lot of people had lost it. Lack of imagination, lack of originality. I don't know if it is the school system that has killed this initiative, especially in our youths, they are so much into the theoretical aspect of things and this has led to the labour market being over-saturated, young graduates ,dynamic youths scouting for jobs everywhere when they are supposed to be employers of labour. Impoverished because they lack imagination and are therefore unable to impact their world. This is a great series for everyone and I am so looking forward to more. Thank you for sharing dear.
You are absolutely right. The conventional school system has some problems with it. Most times, people's ability to think outside what they have been taught in school becomes a huge problem. Ever wondered why most of the great inventors are either school dropouts or people who never attended higher institutions? There is certainly something wrong with the school system.
Thank you for reading.
The journey of life is never easy at first. To succeed one have to cultivate a postive mindset and go along well with other people. Life is all about socializing. Great post. Inspiration and very insightful. Thanks for sharing
Reading your comment makes me feel like you really did not read the post. You only read the topic and commented or maybe you did not fully comprehend the post.
Nice write up. I am inspired and motivated by reading you post. God bless you for this. @ogowinner
Thank you for reading.